Momofuku Milk Bar’s Compost Cookies

As far as I’m concerned, Christina Tosi of Momofuku Milk Bar fame makes unnecessarily complicated recipes that require a level of commitment more than I like to dedicate when donning the ol’ floral apron. Case in point, her famous Compost Cookies. There are 22 ingredients involved and total time from start to finish is at least 2 hours. Granted, at least half of that time is spent chilling in the dough, but who wants to wait that long? More damning, I believe, is that on the Momofuku site the recipe uses the metric system. I mean, come on.

However, the woman certainly knows her stuff. I can’t recall ever having such a strong reaction to anything I’ve made before. People freaked out about these cookies. So much so that I actually made them two weeks in a row, hoping it was just a fluke. Nothing doing on that front, though. The second group dug ’em just as much as the first. I was probably suffering from the hipsterific condition known as ifeveryonelikessomethingitcantpossiblybegood-itis.

In the next few months, I’m going to figure out a way to decomplicate these things without sacrificing too much of what makes them so good. In the meantime, throw on a podcast, and get to work.

INGREDIENTS

For the Graham Mixture:

1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

1 tbsp heavy cream

1/3 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 tbsp milk powder

1 1/2 tsp granulated sugar

1/8 tsp kosher salt

For the Cookies:

1 1/3 cups bread flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp kosher salt

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup light brown sugar

1 tbsp light corn syrup

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

1/2 cup butterscotch chips

Prepared graham mixture

1/3 cup rolled oats

2 1/2 tsp ground coffee

2 cups potato chips (I like to use something on the thicker side)

1 cup crushed pretzels

DIRECTIONS

In a small bowl, mix the melted butter and milk. Add the graham crackers, sugar, powdered milk, and salt and mix with a fork until everything is moistened. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.

In a stand mixer on medium high speed, combine the butter, white and brown sugars, and corn syrup. Mix for about 2 – 3 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the egg and vanilla extra. Mix for another 7 – 8 minutes.

Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture. Mix until just combined.

Still on low speed, add the chocolate and butterscotch chips, graham mixture, oats, and coffee, mix until just combined. You may need to give it a quick pulse on high speed to make sure everything is mixed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Still on low speed, add the potato chips and pretzels and mix until just incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl and give it another 10 – 15 seconds.

Using a 1/3 measuring cup*—these cookies are huge—portion out the dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Because these cookies spread dramatically, give each cookies at least 4 inches of breathing room on each side. Pat the tops of the cookies flat.